Method, system, and computer program for providing a loyalty engine for automated cause management

ABSTRACT

A method, system and computer program for providing a loyalty engine for automated cause marketing. The method includes a charity linking merchants and sponsors to the loyalty system. Members register with the loyalty engine through the loyalty system which is accessible via the Internet. Once the merchants and the sponsors are linked and the members are registered, by operation of the loyalty engine, the merchants can create a customized loyalty program defined by a plurality of merchant defined rules for administering their loyalty program. The merchant defined rules instruct the loyalty engine as to the level of donations in connection with one or more transactions by a member that is associated to the loyalty program. The loyalty system includes a reporting facility to allow the merchant to track transactions with members in a number of ways. A system is also provided that consists of a server computer including the loyalty engine and the charity utility. The charity utility provides the functions of the method and is linked to a server computer that is connected to the Internet. The computer program of the invention is a web application that enables the members, sponsors, merchants, and the charity to access the functions of the invention via a web browser.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to creation and administration of anautomated cause marketing system. More particularly, the presentinvention relates to an automated cause marketing and loyalty systemthat benefits charities, sponsor organizations, merchants, and customersor members.

BACKGROUND

Methods for charity fundraising need to be drastically altered.Traditionally, charities accepted donations from taxes, publicdonations, corporate donations, and fundraising drives. More recently,charities have utilized lotteries to attract funds.

These tactics are no longer as effective as they once were. There is anever-growing list of charities sharing a relatively static source offunds. Many charities are able to raise fewer funds than ever before.Furthermore, the novelty of charities lotteries is beginning to wear offon the public and, therefore, charities are realizing fewer gains eachyear from both lotteries and other traditional fund raising methods.

Meanwhile, retail businesses face the challenge of maintaining marketshare and increasing business. Due to the robust economy and healthybusiness at certain peak times, businesses may need to rely on newmechanisms to increase revenues during non-peak times. Businesses alsogenerally highly value repeat business from customers.

What is needed is a way of attracting new and continuing donations tocharties. One way of doing so is to cease attempting to appeal to thepublic's altruism, and instead offering a solution that financiallybenefits all parties involved in fundraising, from donors through to thecharity itself.

The prior art discloses some attempts to fundraise in a way thatbenefits donors and others. For example, COMMUNITY SMART™ makes creditcards available, wherein specified donations are made to a charity ofthe customer's choice.

Other examples include KIDS FUTURES™ and UPROMISE™. These prior artsolutions provide co-branded financial cards with a charity as apartner, which are issued to a customer who uses it and the charityshares in the applicable interchange fees.

It should be understood that in this disclosure the term “Partner”refers to an entity, such as one or more merchants, that participates ina loyalty program to build loyalty with customers, and potentiallyacquire new business, and in exchange is willing to provide a loyaltybenefit (e.g. cash, in kind contribution, special reduction in price,donation to a charity, or other promotion). A “Member” refers to thecustomer or potential customer who is a member of the referred loyaltyprogram referenced.

One of the disadvantages of these prior art solutions is the lack offlexibility in the manner in which transactions triggering donations tothe charity must occur. The benefit that a Partner participating in aloyalty program is willing to provide will depend on a particularPartner and their business objectives at a particular time. The priorart solutions do not enable Partner to suitably reflect these changingobjectives in the manner in which donations are processed in the contextof the loyalty program. For example, a Partner that earmarks certainfunds for charitable donations and is reaching the end of its reportingperiod with unspent funds for charity may have a limited time to boostits donations. The Partner might prefer to make donations in the contextof a loyalty program, however, prior art systems do not enable Partnersto enhance their donation contributions under the loyalty system to suchan end.

Therefore there is a need for a loyalty program linked to charitabledonations that allows the participation of one or more Partners, and theflexibility that enables the charity benefit to be maximized byresponding to changing business objectives. There is a further need fora loyalty program that enables multiple Partners to reflect theirchanging business objectives by dynamically modifying the rules of theloyalty program as they relate to charitable donations. Morespecifically, there is a need for a loyalty program that enablesmerchants to customize their loyalty program, including as it related tocharitable donations, on the fly, including based on effectiveness andincremental cost.

Many charities have important profile and very significant donor lists.This profile and these donor lists have not generally been leveraged tothe benefit of a loyalty program because charities are reluctant toassociate their goodwill with a loyalty program, in many cases in largepart because the loyalty program lacks transparency to the Members inthat they cannot readily track the relationship between their activitieswithin the loyalty program and the donations made to the charity.

There is a further need for a loyalty program that enables Members toobtain data regarding their activities within the loyalty program thatare eligible for charitable donations and also obtain data regardingdonations made on their behalf to a charity by Partners.

The level of contribution that Partners would be willing to provide to acharity in the context of a loyalty program have been limited in partbecause prior art solutions did not adequately address the need forbusiness to verify the commercial benefit derived by the Partners.Related charitable donations could be increased if the Partners weregiven the tools to measure and monitor the effectiveness and incrementalcost of their activities involving charitable donations. There is a needtherefore for a method, system and computer program that enablesPartners to monitor and verify the commercial benefit that they arederiving from the charitable donations, thereby encouraging the Partnersto increase their charitable donations.

Another factor that has contributed to reluctance of both Partners andcharities to participate in the type of activity described above, andthereby depriving themselves of the mutual benefits, is the fact thatmost prior art solutions involve (in the context of the particularloyalty program) association with a limited number of Partners.Charities are loathe to bring attention to the fact that they areassociating with one merchant, but not a competing merchant, forexample, favoured by a number of their donors. This aspect isexacerbated by increased competition for donations by charities, andalso the polarization that exists sometimes between the respectivecustomer bases of companies that are highly competitive with one another(especially where comparative advertising is used). There is a furtherneed for a method, system and computer program that addresses thisdisadvantage by permitting charities to associate loosely with aplurality of Partners, where the Members by selecting one or more of aplurality of Partners, ultimately determine the donations flowing fromthe Partners to the charity. A system whereby the Member controls theflow of donations and therefore maintains the freedom of choice of theMember tends to be affected by this particular disadvantage to a lesserdegree.

Prior art solutions also did not give to the charity: control over themember with respect to communications; the functionality of loyaltytools including member acquisition, retention and rescue; and 100% passthrough for donations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates one particular embodiment of the system of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates the interaction between the database and the webapplication that comprise a particular embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 illustrates one particular embodiment of the method of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

General Overview

The present invention discloses an automated cause management (“ACM”)computer program and method (“ACM program”) that may provide benefits toseveral parties involved in fundraising for a charity, including thecharity, sponsor businesses, partner businesses, and individuals. TheACM program may also be configured to benefit more than one charity.

Aspects described in this Overview will be more fully described in therelevant sections that follow.

The present invention may provide one or more charities (“Charities”)with a new source of funds obtained through allowing friends of aCharity, who are registered members, to transact using a registeredfinancial transaction identification means, such as a financial card,resulting in merchants donating directly to the charity. Such means maybe loyalty cards that are associated with loyalty programs that are usedto administer aspects of the cards. In the present invention, merchants(“Partners”) may pledge to give to a Charity a percentage of revenuesfrom individuals (“Members”) who transact at their business. The presentinvention may provide the Charity and the Partners accurate measurementand reporting on the results.

One embodiment of the invention may enable 100% of Partners'contributions, based on agreed upon conditions, to go directly to theCharity in an ongoing collection effort that goes 365 days per year. Inone possible implementation of this embodiment, the Charity may benefitby paying no administrative costs in connection with the loyaltyprogram. Instead, Partners may pay a fee to buy or license the ACMprogram for the benefit of the recipient Charity.

Another embodiment of the invention may enable a network of Charities(e.g. a national charity with local affiliates) to link together tobenefit each Charity in the network. This embodiment is described belowin the section entitled “Network of Giving”.

The present invention also discloses an original computer program andmethod for enabling the Charity to leverage large corporate (“Sponsor”)relationships. A Charity may recruit Sponsors to distribute benefits asincentives to, for example, their employees in return for employeestransacting with Partners who then contribute to the Charity. Thus, thespending of benefits by the employees may accrue at least partially tothe Charity. In turn, the Sponsor may be rewarded by an increase inemployees' productivity as a result of the incentive.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the incentive may beprovided by a Sponsor in the form of a stored value card (“SVC”).Optionally, the SVC must be registered with the Charity and ACM programin order to be redeemed. The Charity may report back to Sponsorregarding how successful registration has been.

Furthermore, the present invention provides the ability for a Partner tocommunicate directly with another Partner on the service provided forcross promotion offers to attract members to transact with the Partners,resulting in donations to the Charity. It also provides for the Charityto communicate with the Partners on upcoming events, special promotions,prizing opportunities, opportunities for volunteers, the impact of theprogram, use of funds, and status of fundraising.

The present invention may also provide an accounting of transactions byMembers both to the Partner and to the Charity by, for example, use ofMember identification numbers, which are described more fully below.

In terms of benefits to a Partner, the present invention may providetools enabling customer acquisition, retention and rescue. For example,the present invention may provide loyalty tools including a prize modulethat can set varied numbers of prize opportunities and participation incontests based on pre-selected criteria. Additionally, the presentinvention may provide market data on customers including preferences,spending habits, and merchant ratings.

System Overview

FIG. 1 illustrates one particular embodiment of the system of thepresent invention. The internet (17) accessible ACM program platform ishoused on a server computer (11).

In one particular implementation of the present invention, the servercomputer (11) consists of at least one web server (e.g. an IBM™ HTTPServer), at least one application server (e.g. an IBM™ runningWEBSPHERE™ software),.and at least one database server (e.g. runningIBM™ DB2). In addition, in a particular implementation of the presentinvention, the server computer (11) also includes a server dedicated toimporting real time financial data.

One aspect of the server application is that it includes a web utilityfor publishing a web site to the Internet (17) in a manner that isknown. The features of the web site of the present invention aredescribed below.

The server computer (11) interacts with a database (13) that is operableto store a plurality of data instances pertaining to the ACM program.The ACM engine (27) is accessible to the public via a web application(15) that generates a web site accessible to the public, a Member, aPartner, a Charity, a Sponsor, and a License Administrator which enablesall of these parties to interact with the ACM engine (27).

The computer program aspect of the present invention comprises aback-end computer program relating to the database (13) and a series offront-end computer programs relating to the web application (15).

FIG. 2 illustrates the interaction between the database and the webapplication as a web site. The web application (15) can be furtherbroken down into sub components, including the Administrator Utility(37), Member Utility (33), Public Utility (31), Sponsor Utility (39),and License Administrator Utility (38). The web application thus permitsPartners, Sponsors, Members, the Public, a License Administrator, and aCharity to manage data input to and output from the database (13). Eachutility is described in the corresponding section below.

The server computer (11) may also comprise a member identificationnumber generation engine operable to transform a Member's financialtransaction identification means number (such as SVC card number orother card number) to a Member identification number (“Member ID”).

The back-end computer program may include an access utility (25) that isoperable to populate and manipulate the items in the database (13),which itself is operable to store a series of data instances. Thedatabase (13) may comprise means operable to associate data instanceswith other data instances. For example, the means to associate datainstances could be implemented in the database (13) as tables. Forsimplicity, tables will be used to describe the implementation of thedatabase (13), without limiting the scope of the present invention. Inthe database (13), the tables may include but are not limited to:

-   -   A partner table operable to associate a Partner name with a        Partner identification number and a plurality of data instances        associated with the enablement of various optional functions of        the ACM program, each selectively made available to the Partner        as set by agreement between the Partner and the Charity. The        partner table may also store information relating to benefits or        pledge levels to accrue to the Charity based on the Partner's        transactions.    -   A partner offer table operable to store a plurality of        thresholds set by a Partner for the purposes of identifying and        linking customer actions and demographics, comparison to        thresholds and determinate actions for customer retention,        acquisition, or rescue. A Partner may desire to use this        information for other purposes as well.    -   A transaction table operable to associate a plurality of Member        IDs with data instances associated with a plurality of        transactions representing transactions made using the Member's        financial transaction identification means (such as SVC or other        financial card) at both Partner and non-Partner businesses. The        data instances may include Partner ID, location ID, Member ID,        transaction date, transaction time, purchase price, and any        other relevant information relating to the transaction. There        may be additional data instances associated with the transaction        table.    -   A Member ID table operable to associate a Member ID with data        instances representing demographic information associated with        the Member. The data instances may include gender, age, income,        occupation, means of communication and any other relevant        information relating to the Member.    -   A plurality of survey tables operable to associate survey        questions with survey responses and to associate survey data        with transaction and demographic data for a Member, Partner, or        Sponsor.

The plurality of graphical user interfaces may comprise interfaces foreach of a Public Utility (31) Charity or Administrator Utility (37), aSponsor Utility (39), a Partner Utility (35), a Member Utility (33), anda License Administrator Utility (38). The graphical user interfaces maybe web pages operable to receive inputs, such as user identificationsand passwords that define the content that may be displayed to aparticular individual, Sponsor, Partner, Member or LicenseAdministrator.

The web application (15) may be operable to display a default web pageupon an individual visiting the web site. By default, the webapplication (15) may provide the Public Utility (31) to the individual.The Public Utility (15) is further described below.

An individual, who may represent a Sponsor, Partner, Member, Charity orLicense Administrator may access a secure area of the web application.The individual must first sign up with the web site for joining the ACMprogram. To sign up, the individual may be required to provide a set ofinformation for identification purposes, such as user name and password,or email address and password, for the purposes of future identificationwith the web site.

The web site may consist of a series of web pages containing fields forobtaining sign-up information from individuals. The web site may alsoinclude a plurality of secure areas, provided in a manner that is known.The secure areas may comprise the Member Utility, Partner Utility,Administrator Utility, License Administrator Utility, and SponsorUtility.

One aspect of the present invention is the collection of informationfrom the Members regarding one or more of their financial transactionidentification means such as financial cards. The registered financialtransaction identification means information enables the loyalty engine(27) to track financial transactions of the Members, as particularizedbelow.

The financial transaction identification means may include a widevariety of cards such as banking cards or credit cards. In oneembodiment of the invention the financial card is a stored value card.The stored value card may provide a means for a Charity or Sponsor toacquire new Members and means for a Charity or Sponsor to provideprizing to existing Members. The stored value card is described morefully below. It should be understood to those skilled in the art, thatin this specification a reference to a stored value card or otherfinancial card could easily be extended to other financial transactionidentification means.

The financial transaction identification means data is stored to thedatabase (13) based on processes defined by the access utility (25). Inone particular implementation of the invention, financial cardidentification data may be transformed into a separate memberidentification number and stored to the database (13) to maintain thesecurity of the financial card data.

Once the requisite sign-up data has been provided by the individual, theindividual is registered to the server computer (11), and by operationof the access utility (25) the registered individual is provided accessto the functions of the server application accessible to individual, asdescribed below for each of the Member, Sponsor, Charity, Partner andLicense Administrator.

FIG. 3 illustrates the method of the present invention. The methodconsists of registering a plurality of Partners with the ACM program(41). The plurality of Partners is provided with tools to customizetheir implementation of the ACM program.

The operator of the loyalty program or ACM program administrator istypically the Charity. However, in one embodiment a Partner may beprovided tools to administer its own loyalty program in addition to anexisting ACM program.

Typically, the Partners may register (41) with the ACM program withoutany action required by the Charity. The relationships among the Charity,Partners and Members are governed by rules under which the plurality ofPartners may make donations to the Charity based on purchasingactivities of Members in connection with the ACM program. Through toolsprovided by the ACM program, the Charity and each participating Partnerdefine rules for each participating Partner to make donations to theCharity, in conformity with the rules established between the Charityand the particular Partner.

In order to attract Members to the Charity, the ACM administrator mayenlist Sponsors who may donate funds, encourage their constituents (suchas employees) to register with the ACM program or identify othermerchants that may become Partners.

A Sponsor may first register with the ACM program (43). Registration isdescribed above. Once registered, the Sponsor may distribute, or causeto be distributed, financial transaction identification means (such asfinancial cards (45) or SVCs) providing access to the ACM program andmotivating recipients of the financial cards (45) to register with theACM program. The recipient of a financial transaction identificationmeans may register (47) the financial transaction identification meanswith the ACM program (43) as described below.

The recipient may become a Member upon registration of a financialtransaction identification means.

When a Member initiates a transaction at the place of business of aPartner (49)

-   -   the Partner may transmit transaction data to the merchant        acquirer or card association providing the selected data to the        ACM program (51);    -   the ACM program may store the transaction information (53) and        accrue the amount to be committed by the Partner;    -   in one embodiment of the present invention utilizing a SVC, the        ACM program may adjust the value stored on the SVC to reflect        the transaction (55); and    -   accrual of a donation to the benefit of the Charity may be        triggered by the ACM program and tracked by a Charity account of        the ACM program Partner provided by the ACM system (57).

The ACM program platform enables each of the Partners, Members and theCharity to track and monitor the donation activity.

Stored Value Card

A SVC may be modeled as a financial card operable to be fully orpartially redeemed by a Member at a plurality of merchant locations. TheSVC may be a proprietary card, credit card, bank debit card, or otherfinancial card.

Merchants may be Partners or non-Partners of the Charity. Merchants mayjoin to become Partners of the Charity. Partners may optionally set atarget rate to contribute to the Charity.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a SVC may be used forcustomer acquisition or other purposes. The term “Open-loop SVC” will beused in the case where a Member may redeem value stored in a SVC ateither or both of a Partner or non-Partner establishment whereas theterm “Closed-loop SVC” will be used in the case where a Member mayredeem value stored in a SVC at only Partner establishments. It shouldbe apparent to a person skilled in the art that the following methodsand systems utilizing a SVC are easily adaptable to other financialcards or other financial transaction identification means.

Data may be accessed for non-Partner establishments when data sourcessupplied by card associations is used rather than data supplied bymerchant acquirer participants.

Purchases made at a Partner using an Open-loop SVC may result in acontribution to the Charity, and purchases made at a Partner using aClosed-loop SVC (which may only be redeemed at a Partner) may result ina contribution to the Charity. Whether a SVC is an Open-loop SVC or aClosed-loop SVC may be determined by agreement between a Partner and aCharity.

A SVC may be administered by a financial institution or by the Charity.Preferably, a financial institution administers the SVC. Methods ofloyalty card administration are known to those skilled in the art.

One aspect of the invention is that the SVC may be used as a tool toattract potential Members to register with the ACM program. In oneembodiment of the invention, a potential Member may choose to registerwith the ACM program for several reasons, including for example that theMember appreciates that the charity will benefit from their purchasingactivities as defined by terms of the program or that the Member simplywants to redeem value stored in a SVC.

In another embodiment of the invention, a charity-focused organization(e.g. a Partner, Sponsor, etc.) that may have constituents (e.g.employees, members, cardholders, etc.) may issue unloaded SVCs to someof the constituents and may indicate benefits by registering the SVCwith the Administrator or License Administrator using the AdministratorUtility or License Administrator Utility. When the recipient of the SVCactivates it, the recipient may become a Member of the ACM program.

The SVC may include branding for the charity. Optionally, the SVC mayalso include branding for other organizations such as one or moreSponsors.

The SVC may be distributed in a variety of ways including, for example,at a reception event held by the Charity or at kiosks administered bythe Charity or a Sponsor.

The purchase price of the SVC may include an activation fee which mayaccrue to the Charity or a Sponsor. The SVC may be purchased by a Memberfor use or as a gift; or by a Sponsor for use by an employee.

An individual receiving a SVC may be required to first register oractivate it as a prerequisite to using it. In the present invention, theregistration process may be accomplished by means of a registrationutility provided by the front-end computer program. The registrationutility may provide a means for a Member to provide to the ACM programdemographic information such as age, gender, income, occupation, and anyother relevant information relating to the Member. The registrationutility may also enable generation of a financial card number inaddition to the SVC that may be used to transact at Partners.

Upon registration the back-end computer program generates a Member IDusing the member identification generation engine and stores the MemberID in the Member ID table. Once registered, a Member may redeem itsvalue at a Partner store if the SVC is a Closed-loop SVC, or at anystore if the SVC is an Open-loop SVC.

Once the Member registers the SVC and/or other financial cards, they maybe rewarded by activation of the SVC with a sum of money preloaded ontoit, either as an Open-loop or Closed-loop SVC. In another example, theMember may receive a prizing right with a variety of potential prizes.In this example, ACM program may require that the Member answer askill-testing question or perform some other method of qualification inorder to adhere to applicable gaming laws. In either example, the issuerof the card (e.g. Partner, Sponsor, etc.) generally may pay money to theCharity corresponding to the amount stored on the SVC. This money may beconsidered an indirect donation to the Charity. In one embodiment of theinvention, breakage may be maintained by the issuer of the card. Thismay be especially beneficial where a charity is not permitted to retainbreakage while maintaining appropriate charity tax status.

A Member may redeem the value stored on the SVC. Preferably, the Memberredeems the SVC at a Partner business. In such instances, the Partnermay collect information related to the transaction such as the PartnerID, location ID, SVC card identification number, transaction date,transaction time, purchase price, transaction amount, and any otherrelevant information relating to the transaction. The Partner then maytransmit this information electronically to the back-end computerprogram. The back-end computer program may transform the SVC cardidentification number to a Member identification number (“Member ID”)using the member identification generation engine. The back-end computerprogram then may store the Partner ID, location ID, Member ID,transaction date, transaction time, purchase price, transaction amount,and any other relevant information relating to the transaction, and anyother information the Charity may choose to store.

Public Utility

The present invention may be accessible to the public. For example,there may be a publicly accessible component of the ACM program that maybe used to advertise the ACM program.

Furthermore, the publicly accessible component (“Public Utility”) of theACM program may allow a prospective Member to join the ACM program.

In a first embodiment of the Public Utility, the Public Utility mayprovide a means to allow a Partner to sign up through a direct link to asecure signup page. The secure signup page may permit a Partner to (i)enroll in the ACM program; and (ii) provide permission to the Charity tocollect financial card information on Members. The Charity, in turn, maybe required to enable the Partner to collect the pertinent informationfrom Members, such as a SVC identification number that relates a SVC toa particular Member. A Partner able to collect this data is referred toas an “Authorized Merchant Acquirer”.

In a second embodiment of the Public Utility, the Partner may sign upthrough an automatic process whereby card data is authorized andprovided by the card issuer (e.g. Visa™, MasterCard™, etc.). In thisembodiment, the process may be performed on a secure web page. ThePartner may accept contractual terms with the Charity that activates theACM program. In this embodiment the Partner is not required to beaffiliated with an Authorized Merchant Acquirer for data collection.Instead, the card issuer collects and distributes the information abouttransactions and the Partner may receive only base level access to theACM program.

In either of the above embodiments the Partner may provide to the ACMprogram, the Partner's name, address, processor identification number,NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) primary code,percentage pledged to the Charity based on registered transactions, andsignature.

A third embodiment of the Public Utility may enable the Partner toimplement either of the above two embodiments, and additionally purchasea license from the ACM program provider (such as a software developer)to use the loyalty software features directly for its own customerloyalty program.

Member Utility

Members may access a secure section of the ACM program known as theMember Utility. Each Member may access only the section of the MemberUtility corresponding to that Member. In other words, each Member maynot access the Member Utility for any other Member.

The Member Utility may provide a set of features to a particular Memberas determined by the Charity. The features may include news reporting,surveying, account information, and advertising. The Member Utility mayalso be operable to enable a Member to search within the offers providedby Partners within the ACM program.

Some other features of the Member Utility may provide a means for aCharity to advertise the goods and services, or the logo of, a Partneror Sponsor which the Member may or may not have previously associatedwith. For example, the Charity may wish to advertise the logo for“Featured Partners” or “Featured Sponsors”.

The account information feature may provide a means for a Member toreview the transaction history corresponding to its SVC. There may alsobe displayed the remaining value on any outstanding SVC and, optionally,a means by which the Member may deposit more money onto the SVC.

The news reporting feature may provide a means by which the Partner maycommunicate brief messages to the Member. For example, a section of awebpage of the Member Utility may be devoted to headlines that may beset by the Charity.

The surveying feature may provide a means by which the Member maycomplete surveys deployed by Partners, Sponsors or the Charity. Thecreation and deployment of surveys is discussed in each of the PartnerUtility, Sponsor Utility, and Administrator Utility of this description.

A further aspect of the Member Utility may consist of a CustomerRelationship Management or CRM utility. The CRM utility is a knownsoftware utility that enables managed communications with customers. TheCRM utility can incorporate numerous typical CRM functions as part of aweb-enabled ASP application part of the server application. For examplethe CRM utility may be operable to send messages to a participantmailing list, including for example emails regarding special promotions.

The CRM utility may be provided as a module of the Member Utility. AMember may be permitted, by use of text fields on a web page, to providethe ACM program with the Member's mode of communication, such as a phonenumber to which text messages may be sent, or an email address to whichemails may be sent, using the ACM program. Once a Member providescommunication information to the ACM program, a Partner or the Charitymay be able to send communications such as offers or promotions to theMember by means of the Partner Utility or Charity Utility, respectively.

Partner Utility

Registered Partners may access a secure section of the ACM program knownas the Partner Utility. Each Partner may access only the section of thePartner Utility corresponding to that Partner. In other words, eachPartner may not access the Partner Utility for any other Partner.

The Partner Utility may provide a set of features to a particularPartner as determined by the Charity or by agreement between the Partnerand the Charity. The features may include reporting features andsurveying features.

The Charity may determine the levels of reporting available to thePartner based on factors such as the particular Partner, Partner type(i.e. category of goods or services sold), time of day or other timeperiod, and geographical location. Reporting features are furtherdiscussed below.

The Partner Utility may further comprise a Survey Utility operable todeploy customer surveys. Optionally the Partner may selectively deploy asurvey to Members that are the Partner's customers. The ACM program maybe operable to determine whether a particular Member of a Charity is acustomer of the Partner since the ACM program may store informationrelating to a plurality of purchases made by each Member with eachparticular Partner. For example, as described above, the back-endcomputer program may store the Partner IDs corresponding to a Member'stransactions.

The Partner Utility may also enable a Partner to manage Partnerbenefits. For example, a Partner may set its benefits or pledge level(collectively referred to as “benefits”) for a given time period set bythe Charity. Optionally, the Charity may choose to commit a Partner tocertain benefits for a given time period once the Partner sets thebenefits at the start of the time period. The Partner may then changethe benefits at the end of a period, but there may be automatic renewalof the previous benefits level if the Partner does not make amodification prior to commencement of the next time period.

Furthermore, the Partner Utility may enable a Partner to providedifferent benefits to the Charity based on transactions with differentMembers. The Partner Utility may provide a means for the Partner tospecify the benefits to the Charity based on certain “BIN” number rangesassociated with a plurality of SVCs (“Bin Differentiation”). Forexample, the SVCs may be manufactured in such a way that the SVCidentification numbers are allocated sequentially. In this example, thePartner may provide the Charity a particular benefit for a series of,for example, 100 sequential SVCs and a different benefit for the next100 sequential SVCs. The Partner Utility may enable the Partner toallocate benefits for any number of such bins.

Reporting Features

The reporting features may enable a Partner to analyze the benefits ofthe ACM program and the return on investment of providing benefits to aCharity.

As described above, the back-end computer program may be operable tostore information relating to transactions such as information discussedin the transaction table described above.

The Partner Utility may provide to a Partner a means to provide reportsbased on the stored information. These reports are generally of the typeto enhance a Partner's business by adapting to demographical statistics.

In one embodiment of the reporting features, the Partner Utility may beoperable to report on overall spending per month, by location. Such areport may be of particular relevance to a Partner that may carry onbusiness in more than one location. The report may provide informationcorresponding to:

-   -   1) unique Member visits/transactions: calculated based on the        number of unique Member IDs stored in the back-end computer        program for the particular Partner ID and location ID, and may        be narrowed to a particular time period;    -   2) total Member visits/transactions: calculated based on the        number of transactions stored in the back-end computer program        for the particular Partner ID and location ID, and may be        narrowed to a particular time period;    -   3) average amount spent per transaction by Members (in dollars        or other currency) per visit: calculated based on the amount        spent at the particular Partner ID and location ID divided by        the total Member visits, and may be narrowed to a particular        time period; and    -   4) total amount spent by Members over all visits/transactions:        calculated based on the amount spent at the particular Partner        ID and location ID, and may be narrowed to a particular time        period.

In a second embodiment of the reporting features, the Partner Utilitymay be operable to report on collateral spending by a Member. The Membermay be a patron of the particular Partner. The report may provide thespending by that Member at other Partner business locations, broken downby business category. Optionally the report may be displayed graphicallyin a form such as a pie chart (or other graphical display) with eachsection of the chart representing a business category. In thisembodiment, the Partner does not gain direct access to the informationcorresponding to another Partner. However, the back-end computer programallows access to certain portions of the information for the purposes ofreporting. The report may provide information corresponding to:

-   -   Member spending from beginning to end of month by Members who        purchase from the Partner and also other Partners: includes the        Partner's Member base for a given month, and is calculated based        on the total amount spent by those Members on all transactions        made with the SVC during the month but not including        transactions processed by the particular Partner.    -   The report may present both the dollar amount (or other        currency) of the transactions and a percentage based on the type        of goods or services offered. The percentage based presentation        may optionally be displayed graphically, for example as a pie        chart.

In a third embodiment of the reporting features, the Partner Utility maybe operable to report on a weekly spending breakdown. The report mayprovide information corresponding to:

-   -   1) per Member by the day of the week: includes the Partner's        Member base since the Partner joined the program, and is        calculated based on the total amount spent by those Members on        all transactions made with the SVC with that Partner, allocated        based on a day of the week the transaction occurred on, and then        divided by the number of Members. The result may be displayed        graphically, as a bar graph (in the case of a dollar or other        currency amount) or a pie chart (in the case of a percentage        breakdown).    -   2) for all Members by the day of the week: includes a particular        Member base since the Partner joined the program, and is        calculated based on the total amount spent by those Members on        all transactions made with that Partner, allocated based on a        day of the week the transaction occurred on, and then divided by        the number of Members. The result may be displayed graphically,        as a bar graph (in the case of a dollar or other currency        amount) or a pie chart (in the case of a percentage breakdown).

In a fourth embodiment of the reporting features, the Partner Utilitymay be operable to report on total spending reported by Members' age andgender for a particular Partner's type of goods or services offered. Thereport may provide information corresponding to:

-   -   monthly spending for Members per age group for all female        Members, male members or gender-undisclosed member: includes the        Partner's Member base for a given month, and is calculated based        on the total amount spent by each of a plurality of defined age        segments among Members for each gender among the set {female,        male, undisclosed} on all transactions made with the SVC during        a month.    -   The report may present both the dollar amount (or other        currency) of the transactions and a percentage based on the type        of goods or services offered. The dollar amount (or other        currency) based presentation may optionally be displayed        graphically, for example as a bar graph. The percentage based        presentation may optionally be displayed graphically, for        example as a pie chart.

A prospective Partner that chooses not to use the reporting features maychoose to act as a Sponsor, which may enable the party to haveadvertising presence on the ACM website and may also enable the party touse the Survey Utility, described below.

Advantages to a Partner

The present invention may provide several financial advantages to aPartner, including

-   -   1) The Partner may deploy customer acquisition, customer        retention, or customer rescue (reacquiring a customer that has        ceased to transact or reduced transactions with a business)        offers.        -   a. The offers may be rewards or other incentives designed to            attract business.        -   b. Offers may be a promotional code to be used or redeemed            at a Partner's business.        -   c. Offers may be a prizing opportunity to Members of a            Partner or Members of the ACM program that have not            previously transacted with the Partner.    -   The Charity may implement the offers as an optional module to        the Partner. In this case, the Partner may be required to pay an        additional fee to purchase the rights to use the offer module.    -   For the purposes of customer acquisition, customer retention,        and customer rescue a Partner may promote its business to        customers or Members that are not yet customers by sending them        a special offer. The offer utility may be automatic or manual.        In the case of manual offer, the Partner may send, using a means        of selection on the front-end computer program, an offer to a        particular Member. In the case of automatic offer, the Partner        may set, using the front-end computer program, thresholds for a        plurality of offers based upon customer history. The thresholds        may be stored in the back-end computer program. In this case the        back-end computer program may automatically deliver the offer to        Members of the Partner exceeding the set thresholds.    -   2) A Partner may increase incremental sales by analyzing prior        attempts to do so, and adapting its business practice        accordingly. The analysis of prior attempts for increasing        incremental sales may be accomplished using the reporting        features as described above.    -   3) A Partner may allocate benefits regionally. For example, the        Partner may use Bin Differentiation in conjunction with        deployment of particular bin numbered SVCs to different regions.        In such a way, the Partner can allocate an optimal benefit based        on statistical return on investment at each of its locations, as        provided by the reporting features.    -   4) A Partner may deploy a customizable survey for completion by        Members that transact with the Partner. Surveying is described        more fully below.    -   5) A Partner may leverage business-to-business relationships for        the purpose of increasing sales. Preferably, a Partner will deal        with a non-competing other Partner. For example, a Partner may        offer another Partner's services as a reward to Members that it        transacts with. This may result in benefits where a Partner        views another Partner's services or goods as a commodity. Offers        and rewards are described above.    -   6) A Partner may realize increased revenue at targeted periods        by offering promotions. For example, the Partner may learn from        the reporting features that its sales suffer on a particular day        of the week as compared to other days of the week. The Partner        may choose to selectively make offers to Members to incentivize        transacting with the Partner on the particularly poor business        day.    -   7) A Partner may be introduced to new customers, as it may        deploy offers to Members of the Charity that are not yet        customers of the Partner.    -   8) A Partner may receive increased feedback from customers as a        result of using the survey utility described below.    -   9) A Partner may receive increase support from the local        community as a result of its charitable interest.

Survey Utility

The present invention discloses a Survey Utility that may offer aPartner the opportunity to further enhance customer relationships usingmeasured results. The Survey Utility may provide a Partner the abilityto reward customers based on past customer history and/or survey resultsto offer incentives for further business opportunities.

By comparing the results between retail locations, and Partners' basesurvey goals, a Partner may ensure that it is maximizing customersatisfaction. For example, the Partner may evaluate current servicelevels or evaluate which aspects of service are appreciated and notappreciated. The Partner may then make adjustments accordingly.

The Survey Utility may also be made available to a Sponsor. This mayprovide an incentive to attract Sponsors who may wish donate directly tothe Charity rather than based on Member purchases, but still wish tobenefit from demographic data made available through the Survey Utility.The use of the Survey Utility by a Sponsor may also be extended toprovide customizable questions by the Sponsor to obtain additionalcustomer data. This embodiment may or may not be tied to a financialcard transaction data. The deployment of these surveys may be associatedwith Member's transactions at particular Partners that carry orassociate themselves with a given Sponsor's goods and/or services.

Creation

The Survey Utility may provide for creation of a survey. The creationprocess first requires creation of a group of questions. A Partner orSponsor may add one question at a time to the survey. There may be manyquestion types to choose from. The Partner or Sponsor may also delete orreorder questions. All operations may be provided by the front-endcomputer program. The survey may be stored in a survey table.

There may be various types of questions provided by the Survey Utilityincluding single answer selection, yes/no selection, multiple answerselection, short text entry, and long text entry.

The single answer selection may be provided by a selection means such asa radio button or a drop down selection box. The yes/no selection may beprovided by a selection means such as a check box or a drop downselection box. The multiple answer selection may be provided by aplurality of selection means such as check-boxes. The short text entrymay be provided by a singe line text field. The long text entry may beprovided by a text box.

Deployment

A Partner may use the survey utility to create a survey deployed aseither a “Visit Survey” or a “Contest”. A Visit Survey may be sent to aMember after they transact at a Partner location. It may be set up byspecifying the question group to use, the effective dates, and thetrading area where the Visit Survey is to be available. A Contest may bemade available to all Members. Upon filling out the Contest's questionsa Member may be entered to win a prize. It may be set up in the same wayas a Visit Survey, but more information may be required such as, forexample, a contest description.

Results

Members may complete a survey using the front-end computer program,which may be operable to display the series of single answer selectionmeans, yes/no selection means, multiple answer selection means, shorttext entry means and long text entry means set up by the Partner.

The results of the survey may be stored by the back-end computer programin a survey table. The back-end computer program may record thecompletion rate among Members to whom the survey was sent. A Partner orSponsor may adjust survey questions accordingly to attempt to receive ahigh completion rate for a subsequent survey.

A Partner's or Sponsor's purpose for reviewing survey results may be toresolve individual customer issues based upon survey results andspending history rather than having to pursue the traditional method ofusing follow-up telephone calls. For example, a Partner or Sponsor mayrescue dissatisfied customers by sending them a special offer, which isdescribed above.

In one embodiment of generating offers based on the survey results, anoffer may be sent to a Member based on a threshold set by the Partner.The Partner sets the thresholds (as described above in the PartnerBenefits section) for these offers and the back-end computer program mayautomatically deliver the offer to the Member when a threshold isexceeded.

Automated Sweepstakes

A further method of attracting new Members to or retaining existingMembers within the ACM program may be to provide an automatedsweepstakes utility. A particular Partner may also be given thefunctionality to offer automated sweepstakes to its customers that areMembers by accessing the automated sweepstakes utility through thePartner Utility.

In one embodiment of the automated sweepstakes utility the ACM programmay be operable to randomly select a Member ID from the ACM computerprogram database as a winner. In a second embodiment of the automatedsweepstakes utility the ACM program may transmit a list of Member IDs toan external sweepstakes business which may return a selected Member IDto the ACM program.

The Member ID corresponding to the selected Member (the “winner”) may benotified electronically using a means of contact stored in the Member IDtable. The automated sweepstakes utility may optionally require thewinner to sign off on receiving the prize.

Optionally, reminder notifications may be sent by the ACM program untila sign off is received from the winner. If the winner does not sign offwithin a set period of time, there may be a new winner selected.

Optionally, the winner's first and last name may be automaticallydisplayed on a website of the sweepstakes house or the ACM program.

Sweepstakes opportunities may be selectively applied according to rulesset by the Charity or Partner including by SVC type (Open-loop SVC orClosed-loop SVC), bin range, Member's transaction history, promotionalcode or other rule. Furthermore, a sweepstakes may be a single contestor may be repeated. Where it is repeated, the Charity or Partner mayrealize an ease in set up time since the sweepstakes functionality andimplementation may be reused.

Sweepstakes opportunities may also be used to reward Members forcompleting a survey on a transaction or for providing marketinginformation

Online Store

The ACM program may optionally include an Internet-based storeaccessible through the Public Utility. The store may facilitatemarketing a Charity to potential new Members.

Any profit made at the store may be donated to the Charity. Products orservices provided by the store may include inventory in the form ofin-kind gifts provided by a Partner, a Charity's own inventory, SVCs(Open-loop SVCs or Closed-loop SVCs), or other third party merchandise.

Administrator Utility

A Charity may access a secure section of the ACM program known as anAdministrator Utility using the front-end computer program, which may beoperable to access all data instances stored in the back-end computerprogram.

The Administrator Utility may provide a means for the Charity toadminister the ACM program. The Administrator Utility may include arange of tools enabling the Charity to create communications, such as toencourage support by Members by referring Partners by advertisement onan ACM program website, management of a news aspect of the website,Partner or Sponsor brand identification (such as a logo) placement onthe website, or other functionality. The Administrator Utility may alsoinclude a calendar tool to schedule staged communications directed atMembers, Partners, and Sponsors, and may be geared toward managingrelationships between these parties. The Charity may wish to managethese relationships for any of a number of reasons.

The Administrator Utility may also provide reporting features accessibleto the Charity corresponding to each Partner and each Member that hasregistered with the ACM program. The functionality of these reportingfeatures is the same as those reporting features provided by the PartnerUtility.

Possible Advantages to a Charity

The present invention may provide several advantages to a Charity,including

-   -   1) The present invention may allow a Charity to retain 501C tax        status in the United States, or similar status under other tax        regimes. This is described above in the section entitled “Stored        Value Card”.    -   2) The Charity may be able to recruit Members that otherwise may        not have become donors of the Charity.    -   3) The present invention may promote transactions between        Members and Partners creating donations to a regional and/or        national Charity.    -   4) The present invention may promote transactions and resulting        donations by allowing Sponsors such as product manufacturers to        promote their products, which may be sold by Partners of the ACM        program.

Sponsor Utility

Sponsors may be corporate organizations or similar groups that operatewithin one of the Charity's regions. The role of a Sponsor is to assistthe Charity in acquiring new Members in addition to being acontributor/donor to the Charity. For example, a Sponsor may be a localcorporation that is a large employer. The Sponsor may distribute SVCs toits employees. The Charity thus may attract new Members while theSponsor may realize productivity gains from its employees as a result ofthe new incentive. Another example of a Sponsor may include a consumerproduct company that desires to help the Charity while also securingpositive public relations. This type of Sponsor may also wish to donateproducts for use in sweepstakes or offers as described above. Anotherexample may be a financial institution that could contribute storedvalue cards or other incentives to encourage people to become members.Another example may be a merchant who is a Partner already affiliatedwith the Charity.

The Sponsor Utility may also provide access to the reporting features asdescribed above. A Sponsor, by agreement with the Charity, may beprovided access to reporting features corresponding to transactionsprocessed by a plurality of Partners or a plurality of Members. Forexample, the Sponsor may be granted access to reporting featurescorresponding to the Members that use SVCs provided by the Sponsor.

The Sponsor may elect to support time-based events that allow forcontribution matches with preferred merchants, all merchants, certainSVC bin ranges, etc.

As a secondary option a Sponsor may elect to leverage the Charity'sPartners/merchants by using Closed-loop SVCs as incentives for furthertransactions within the plurality of Partners. In other cases, whereadditional market data is desired, the SVC may be deployed as Open-loopSVCs.

The Sponsor donating the funds on each SVC may receive back part or allof the value of the SVC if it is never registered with the ACM program.The remainder of the value may accrue to the Charity.

License Administrator Utility

A License Administrator Utility may be provided by the present inventionin order for the Charity to enable a third party to administer aspectsof the ACM program such as the Member Utility or Partner Utility.

For example, a License Administrator may use the License AdministratorUtility to create a survey associated with a sweepstakes. The process toaccomplish this is describe above in the Partner Utility section. TheLicense Administrator Utility may also provide a means for a LicenseAdministrator to manage prize allocation for offers or sweepstakesprovided by the Charity, a Partner, or a Sponsor.

The License Administrator Utility may also provide a means for a LicenseAdministrator to administer the reporting features, such as reporting toPartners on demographics, survey results, etc. as described in theReporting Features section.

The License Administrator Utility may further provide a means for aLicense Administrator to enroll new Sponsors, create and display newsitems, or modify the look and feel of the Public Utility and MemberUtility area of the ACM program.

Network of Giving

The ACM program described above may generally apply to a single charitythat may operate in a single region. The Network of Giving (NOG) isanother embodiment of the invention that may provide a linkage for anetwork of Charities to operate the ACM program on a larger scale basis.

In the ACM program described above, the Administrator may generally bethe Charity. In a NOG embodiment the Administrator may be a Charity ormay be an organization whose role is not as a Charity but may be tosolicit national (or multi-regional) charities to participate in anational (or multi-regional) program. The Administrator may include anational administrator and a regional administrator, but the two rolesmay be carried out using a single entity. In the following discussion,where the term “Administrator” is used, either the nationaladministrator or the regional administrator could carry out thefunction. If the national administrator and regional administrator areseparate entities of a Charity, the national administrator may definerules by which incoming donations are split between the nationaladministrator and regional administrator.

The NOG embodiment may also include a License Administrator thatactually maintains the ACM program while the Administrator may manageallocation and relations between the regional Charities.

The Administrator may define one or more regions for which animplementation of the NOG embodiment may be active. A region may be ageographic area, but need not be contiguous. A national region may bedefined to include the regions or to comprise the geographical areas notalready included in regions defined by an Administrator. A nationalregion may also include non-geographic national Partners, Sponsors, andcharities that transact on the Internet.

A Charity within a NOG may be a single charity or a plurality ofcharities that are associated with one another. The plurality ofcharities may be within the same region or different regions, so long asthe regions are included in the NOG.

This embodiment may provide advantages over the localized ACM programdescribed above. For example, large multi-regional or national Sponsors(such as national retailers, large manufacturers, or governmentalagencies) may not be familiar with local charities and may prefer tobenefit multi-regional or national Charities. These Sponsors may thenenroll and encourage their employees to join the program through thetechniques described above. This may help overcome a local Charity'slack of ability to affiliate with national merchants by allowing thenational entities to affiliate themselves with the NOG and having accessto the regional and local charities.

Members may be attracted to the NOG through various means including giftcard promotions (such as the use of SVCS) or surveys. In either case,the gift cards or surveys may be implemented regionally, to take intoaccount the regional basis of the NOG. Surveys may also comprise a unionof national and regional questions. Surveys may also be provided bySponsors in addition to by Partners. A Charity, Partner, Partnerlocation, or Sponsor may define prizing in association with Surveys. Oneor more Partners or Partner locations may be associated with each otherto implement cross-promotional prizing and offers.

Members may join as a referral from a specific Charity, theAdministrator or with no referral. Based upon the Member's referralchoice at signup (which may be recorded and stored during enrollmentusing the Public Utility) and Partner locations with which the Membertransacts, expected payments by a Partner may be shared among theCharities designated by the multi-regional or national chain,Administrator and, if applicable, a License Administrator. Theallocation of payments may be divided based on predetermined formulas orratios. For example, sharing may be allocated based upon how a Membertransacts (online versus brick and mortar or physical location), where amember transacts (i.e. ACM program region) and where he/she resides(e.g. address specified during enrollment). This data may all beassociated with the registered SVC or other registered financial cards.Alternatively, sharing may be allocated based on the Member'spreferences, which may be provided by the Member using the MemberUtility.

Sharing may also be based on cross regional split rules. A crossregional split may occur when a Member from one region transacts at aPartner location in another region. If a national charity is notaffiliated with a regional charity in the region in which thetransaction takes place, but is associated with a regional charity inthe region from which the Member originates, then the national charitymay receive the donations raised, such that it may be regarded as theregional charity in the region in which the transaction takes place.

Members that are associated with the NOG may be provided with a MemberUtility that is operable to search offers based on the regional locationof the Member. The Member may also be given access to offers in otherregions within the NOG if desired, for example where the Member travelsto another region within the NOG.

Partners may be associated with the NOG embodiment of the ACM program bythe Administrator or License Administrator, if applicable. For example,Partners that are multi-regional or national chains (which may or maynot include franchises) may enroll through the Administrator (thenational charitable organization). When a new area/region is activatedin the ACM program, outlets of the multi-regional or national chain maybecome part of the local ACM program. Alternatively, the Administratormay choose not to enroll the local outlet of the multi-regional ornational chain in a region where the particular chain presents aconflict with a current Sponsor. When a Member transacts at a Partneroutlet, benefits pledged may be shared between the local charity and themulti-regional or national charity selected at a ratio that may bedetermined by the Partner chain or by the national charity. The donationlevel applicable to a Charity (which, as described above, may includemultiple charities or charity locations), may be defined at the charitylevel.

In one aspect of the NOG embodiment, the national administrator may beresponsible for adding all Partner chains and the regional administratormay be responsible for rejecting the addition of individual (i.e.regional outlets of) Partner chains, with the further approval of thenational administrator.

A Partner chain may register all of its locations, and may allocatedifferent donation rules for franchised locations as compared tonon-franchised locations. Each location in the chain may make offersdepending on the rules set for the chain, but each location may alsooverride offers or surveys if so desired. A Partner that is a chainrather than a single location may be associated with a plurality ofPartner ID numbers. For example, each outlet of the chain may beallocated a Partner ID number, and the headquarters of the chain may beallocated a separate Partner ID number. The headquarters of the chainmay be allocated the Partner ID number even though it may not conducttransactions at that location. This may be useful where the Partnerwishes to access features available through the Partner Utility, such asreporting features.

The Administrator of the NOG embodiment may seek other Sponsors toenroll in the ACM program, become multi-regional or national Partnersand expect that their transactions will result in donations to thespectrum of charities within the NOG.

The Administrator may specify the regions in which the NOG applies.Regions may be defined as one or more geographic areas, which need notbe contiguous.

Optional Embodiments

The ACM program may provide a media utility. The media utility mayinclude media friends of the Charity to promote the ACM program. Themedia friend may be rewarded by having the Charity display the mediafriend's logo on the ACM program website. In turn, the Charity may berewarded by attracting new Members and Partners due to advertisingdonated by the media friend. The media utility may also provide foradditional survey questions to be presented to new Members uponregistration of a SVC. The additional survey questions may relate towhich media friend referred the new Member and other question related tothe advertisement, such as the time and date it was received by the newMember. The survey results may be used to promote or demote successfulor unsuccessful media friends, respectively. For example, a media friendthat attracts many new Member may be rewarded with a more prominent logoon the ACM program website than a media friend attracting lessreferrals.

Another optional embodiment of the present invention may allow a Partnerto contract with a service provider (such as a software developer) topurchase direct rights to use the ACM program for non-Charitable means.In this embodiment, the Partner may have its own database of customersin addition to the customers attracted through the Charity.

Yet another optional embodiment of the present invention may allow twoor more Charities to collaborate on a special event. In this embodiment,the two or more Charities may distribute SVCs that require registrationon a shared ACM program website. Donations accruing through the ACMprogram may be split among the Charities, and the Charities each receiveaccess to the expanded customer list, which optionally can also becopied to each Charities' own ACM program database. Furthermore, thecollaboration among the two or more Charities may provide for timedifferential donation amounts being generated. This may allow forPartners or Sponsors to support the Charities, and provide incentives tothe participating Charities to promote the Partners' and Sponsors'participation.

A further embodiment of the present invention may enable an event basedloyalty program. For example, some loyalty and charity fundraising maybe performed through special events. In this embodiment more than oneCharity may come together for a special event, pool their members, andshare proceeds. The ACM program may provide the capability to combinemultiple member databases and add and/or delete merchants to provideloyalty for special events. Event based transactions processes maydiffer substantially between those held by regional and by nationalcharities. In one embodiment the Administrator may be informed aboutadditional financial card holders and special rules for sharing Merchantcommitments based upon the Member's charity affiliation and BIN range ofa Member's financial card. The Administrator Utility may enable theAdministrator to combine the relevant data from the Charities' ACMprogram databases to implement the event based loyalty program.

Event based activities may be used for other purposes. Events mayinclude a sporting event or a community effort to raise funds for aspecific purpose, and may be used in association with the Network ofGiving. Partners may choose to associate with these events to providetime limited promotions, such that the promotion has a certain beginningtime and ending time. A financial transaction identification means (suchas a SVC) may be provided to new or existing Members, to be used inconjunction with the event. The financial transaction identificationmeans may be operable to enable the Member to take advantage of thePartners' promotions at certain times as specified by the Partner. Forexample, a golf course may offer a special during a time which istypically hard to attract golfers. The Partner may then use the PartnerUtility to track information associated with the utilization of theevent based promotion by Members. Thus, the Partner may be provided avaluable tool for market research.

A yet other optional embodiment of the present invention may allow realtime data to be communicated to Members transacting with Partners. Forexample, when the ACM program receives transaction information from aPartner relating to a particular Member, the ACM program may communicatewith the Member in real time. Communication may be made using anymessaging medium such as text messaging or email. One possible use ofthis functionality could include delivering a survey to the Memberrelating to the specific transaction that may have just occurred.Another possible use of this functionality could include providing theMember with a promotional code for use upon the next visit to thatPartner. This functionality may also be extended, for example byincorporating Bin Differentiation.

Another optional embodiment of the present invention may assist inattracting Members to transact with additional Partners. A Member'stransactions may be tracked by the ACM program. The list of Partnersthat the Member has transacted with may be compiled, and the ACM programmay provide an offer to the Member corresponding to one of the Partnersthat does not appear on this list. The offer may be communicated to theMember using the CRM utility of the Member Utility. The offer may alsobe from Partners with whom a Member has recently transacted, providingto the Member retention offers, thereby promoting transactions betweenPartners and regional or national Charities.

1. A method for providing a loyalty program for promoting charitabledonations comprising the steps of: (a) an administrator establishing andadministering the loyalty program; (b) linking each of a plurality ofmember purchasers to the loyalty program; (c) linking each of aplurality of merchants to the loyalty program; (d) linking one or morecharities to the loyalty program, each creating one or more customizedloyalty programs, each said customized loyalty program defined by rulesfor administering the customized loyalty program, including the rulesunder which each of the plurality of merchants will make donations ofmoney, goods or services to the one or more charities, based on one ormore purchases made by members from the plurality of merchants; (e) theloyalty program accumulating the donations of money, goods or services;and (f) the loyalty program directing the donations to the one or morecharities based on associated rules defined by the loyalty program. 2.The method claimed in claim 1, wherein the administrator is one or moreof the charities.
 3. The method claimed in claim 1, wherein each of themembers is linked to the loyalty program by registering one or morefinancial transaction identification means with the loyalty program. 4.The method claimed in claim 3 wherein each of the financial transactionidentification means may or may not be restricted to use with themerchants linked to the loyalty program.
 5. The method claimed in claim3, wherein the financial transaction identification means are financialcards.
 6. The method claimed in claim 5, wherein the financial cards areissued by the administrator.
 7. The method claimed in claim 5, whereinthe purchases are made by means of the financial cards.
 8. The methodclaimed in claim 7, wherein one or more of the financial cards is astored value card.
 9. The method claimed in claim 8, wherein the storedvalue cards are distributed by one or more sponsors, each said sponsorbeing linked to the loyalty program and each said sponsor contributingmoney to provide the stored value card with value.
 10. The methodclaimed in claim 7, comprising the further step of the one or morecharities defining the rules under which, as part of each saidcustomized loyalty program, it will receive donations based on the oneor more purchases made by each member in association with the loyaltyprogram using the member's one or more financial cards.
 11. The methodclaimed in claim 1, comprising the further step of the one or morecharities defining rules as part of each said customized loyalty programthat specifies the manner in which the donation is received.
 12. Themethod claimed in claim 1, comprising the further step of the one ormore charities defining rules as part of each said customized loyaltyprogram that specifies the manner in which the donation is dispersed tobeneficiaries of the one or more charities.
 13. The method claimed inclaim 12, wherein the donation is dispersed to beneficiaries by cash, inkind contribution, special reduction in price at the one or moremerchants, donation to the same or another charity, or other promotion.14. The method claimed in claim 1, wherein the donations are tracked andstored in a donation account by operation of the loyalty program basedon merchant defined rules and charity defined rules.
 15. The methodclaimed in claim 9, wherein the sponsor restricts use of the storedvalue cards to merchants selling goods and services of the sponsor. 16.The method claimed in claim 2, wherein the one or more charitiesselectively register members and merchants belonging to each of the oneor more charities.
 17. The method claimed in claim 1, wherein one of theone or more charities is a national charity and the other of the one ormore charities are regional charities associated with the nationalcharity.
 18. The method claimed in claim 17, wherein the one or morecharities receive the donations based upon a geographical location ofeach of the regional charities and a geographical location of thepurchases made by the members.
 19. The method claimed in claim 17,wherein the national charity is the administrator.
 20. The methodclaimed in claim 18, wherein the national charity receives the donationsif there is no regional charity associated with the geographicallocation of the purchases made by the members.
 21. A system forproviding a loyalty program linked to charitable donations presented bya plurality of merchants, a plurality of members, and one or morecharities registered with the loyalty program, the system comprising:(a) a server computer connected to the Internet; and (b) a webapplication linked to the server, the web application defining a loyaltyengine that enables a plurality of merchants, one or more charities, anda plurality of members to create and manage customized loyalty programsdefined by a plurality of rules interpreted by the loyalty engine foradministering at least one loyalty program; wherein the loyalty engineincludes a charity utility operable to enable the one or more charitiesto link the one or more charities, a plurality of merchants, one or moresponsors, and a plurality of members with the loyalty program, each saidmember being linked to the one or more charities by registering afinancial transaction identification means using the charity utility;wherein the loyalty engine includes a merchant utility enabling theplurality of merchants to optionally define the rules under which aspart of their loyalty program, they will make donations to the one ormore charities based on one or more purchases made by members from theplurality of merchants; wherein the charity utility enables the loyaltyprogram to keep track of the accumulating donations to the one or morecharities based on one or more purchases made by members from theplurality of merchants; wherein the loyalty program includes a memberutility enabling the plurality of members to keep track of the purchasesmade at the plurality of merchants; and wherein the loyalty programincludes a sponsor utility enabling the plurality of sponsors to keeptrack of the purchases made by some of the plurality of members.
 22. Thesystem claimed in claim 21, wherein the loyalty program is operable tokeep track of demographic information about each of the plurality ofmembers.
 23. The system claimed in claim 21, wherein the merchantutility is further operable to provide reports to each of the pluralityof merchants.
 24. The system claimed in claim 23, wherein the reportsinclude a report on spending by the plurality of members at each of aplurality of locations of each merchant.
 25. The system claimed in claim23, wherein the reports include a report on spending by the plurality ofmembers at the plurality of merchants.
 26. The system claimed in claim24, wherein the reports include a report on spending by the plurality ofmembers at the each of plurality of merchants.
 27. The system claimed inclaim 26, wherein the report on spending is limited to a defined timeframe.
 28. The system claimed in claim 21, wherein the members makepurchases from the plurality of merchants using the one or morefinancial transaction identification means.
 29. The system claimed inclaim 28, wherein the financial transaction identifications means arestored value cards distributed by the one or more sponsors, each saidsponsor contributing money to provide the stored value card with value.30. The system claimed in claim 28, wherein the financial transactionidentifications means are one or more financial cards registered withthe loyalty program.
 31. The system claimed in claim 28, wherein theloyalty program is operable to keep track of the transactions made usingeach of the plurality of stored value cards and the plurality offinancial cards.
 32. The system claimed in claim 28, wherein the loyaltyprogram is operable to associate each of the plurality of members' ageand gender with each of the plurality of stored value cards and theplurality of financial cards.
 33. The system claimed in claim 27,wherein the reports include a report on spending by the plurality ofmembers broken down by age and gender.
 34. The system claimed in claim21, wherein the charity utility enables the one or more charities todefine the rules under which, as part of the loyalty program, they willreceive donations from the plurality of merchants in connection with oneor more transactions with a member that is associated with the loyaltyprogram.
 35. The system claimed in claim 21, wherein the server computeris linked to a database.
 36. The system claimed in claim 21, wherein theloyalty engine further includes a transaction facility that is operableto process financial transactions between the loyalty engine and the oneor more charities based on one or more transactions between theplurality of merchants and the one or more members based on the merchantdefined rules.
 37. The system claimed in claim 21, wherein one of theone or more charities is a national charity and the other of the one ormore charities are regional charities associated with the nationalcharity.
 38. The system claimed in claim 37, wherein the one or morecharities receive the donations based upon a geographical location ofeach of the regional charities and a geographical location of thepurchases made by the members.
 39. The system claimed in claim 37,wherein the national charity is the administrator.
 40. The systemclaimed in claim 38, wherein the national charity receives the donationsif there is no regional charity associated with the geographicallocation of the purchases made by the members.
 41. A computer programcomprising: computer instructions which when loaded on a server computerconnected to the Internet are operable to provide a web applicationdefining a loyalty engine that enables one or more charities and aplurality of merchants, members and loyalty system administrator tocreate and manage customized loyalty programs defined by a plurality ofrules interpreted by the loyalty engine for administering their loyaltyprograms; wherein the loyalty engine includes a charity utility operableto enable the one or more charities to link the one or more charities, aplurality of merchants, one or more sponsors, and a plurality of memberswith the loyalty program, each said member being linked to the one ormore charities by registering a financial transaction identificationmeans using the charity utility; wherein the loyalty engine includes amerchant utility enabling the plurality of merchants to optionallydefine the rules under which as part of their loyalty program, they willmake donations to the one or more charities based on one or morepurchases made by members from the plurality of merchants; wherein thecharity utility enables the loyalty program to keep track of theaccumulating donations to the one or more charities based on one or morepurchases made by members from the plurality of merchants; wherein theloyalty program includes a member utility enabling the plurality ofmembers to keep track of the purchases made at the plurality ofmerchants; and wherein the loyalty program includes a sponsor utilityenabling the plurality of sponsors to keep track of the purchases madeby some of the plurality of members. wherein based on a membertransacting with a merchant, the loyalty program being further operable,based on such selection and the donation rules to: (i) tracktransactions between the merchants and the member; and (ii) apply thedonation rules.
 42. The computer program claimed in claim 41, furthercomprising a transaction utility that is operable to process financialtransactions between the loyalty engine and the one or more charitiesbased on one or more transactions between the plurality of merchants andthe one or more members based on the merchant defined rules.